Conceding that its domestic basic economy product was losing
out to Delta's less restrictive option, American will do away with its basic economy
carry-on ban on domestic and short international fares beginning Sept. 5.
"For customers who are the buyers of this, there's a
big airline out there out there who doesn't charge for carry-ons,"
American CEO Doug Parker said during the carrier's second-quarter earnings call
Thursday.
American rolled out basic economy last year, choosing a more
restrictive model than Delta, which introduced the fare class to the U.S.
market in 2012. On both airlines, as well as United, basic economy ticketholders
have restrictions on seat selections, itinerary changes and cancellations that
don't apply to economy. Basic economy passengers also board the aircraft last.
However, Delta allows basic economy fliers to put a
full-sized carry-on bag in the overhead bin, in addition to a personal item
that can fit under the seat.
In contrast, American and United do not allow basic economy
passengers to use the overhead bin, just a personal item that fits under the
seat. All other bags must be checked.
Parker said that flight search engines -- he specifically
mentioned Google -- have developed ways to ferret out the full cost of a basic
economy fare for fliers who intend to travel with a carry-on suitcase. As a
result, American's seats are losing the exposure battle on flight search
engines that display fares based on the cheapest cost.
"We put this product out with a different model than
others have done in the past and got to the point where we think the right
thing to do is to get in line with the competition," Parker said.
American's move would leave United as an outlier in domestic
basic economy, unless it too does away with the carry-on bag prohibition.
Frequently, the Big 3 legacy carriers follow each other on significant market
initiatives.
Parker explained that American is adjusting its basic economy
product as part of a broader effort to jump-start revenue growth. American
reported revenue of $11.6 billion in the second quarter, up 3.7% year over year.
Still, the carrier's revenue growth this year has trailed the rates at Delta
and United.
Don Casey, American's senior vice president of revenue
management, said realigning basic economy will bring in an additional $100
million in revenue annually by driving more ticket sales.
American reported net income of $566 million during the
second quarter, down from $864 million a year earlier. The decrease was driven
higher by a 10.3% increase in expenses, most notably due to a jump of nearly
40% in fuel costs.
The carrier said that it will defer delivery of 22
narrowbody Airbus aircraft that were to be delivered between 2019 and 2021 and
reduce capacity growth for the whole of 2018 to 2.2% in an effort to bring down
costs. The carrier had planned to grow capacity by approximately 2.7% this
year.